Day 12: Take a Walk and Allow Yourself to Be Drawn
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
— John Muir
The journey of erotic wellness requires that we feel our belonging enough to relinquish some of our control and allow ourselves to be impacted and to have impact in the world around us. As we near the end of this program, we hope you have had some experiences of your inalienable belonging within the web of Life and that you understand that your never-before-seen curiosity, attention, and participation is necessary for the unfolding of Eros and therefore of Life itself.
Today’s practice takes us for a walk outside with the intention to connect with your curiosity and cultivate a relationship with the wild, animate world around you. You’ll use your senses, your awareness, and your feelings to turn towards where you’re drawn and have an experience that leaves you and ‘it’ ever changed. If you’re unable to get outside today, you can practice walking indoors with the fresh eyes of an explorer who finds themselves in uncharted terrain.
For today, we recommend staying somewhere close to home to develop your relationship with the ‘local wild’ as a way to remember your place in the World. And, you can take this practice anywhere you’d like. Walking in remote areas requires a kind of attention that may open you in surprising ways. Choose a time and location that feels good and bring what you need to stay hydrated and safe. It’s best if you leave your phone behind or at least put it on silent so that you are not distracted by it.
Before you start your walk, stand up and breathe at least 5 conscious breaths, feeling your breath moving in your body and the weight of your body on the ground. You are in a constant dance with breath and gravity, notice that now. Drop the baggage from your day and come into this moment.
Allow your eyes to softly focus and take in the world around you with all 5 senses. Begin to walk slowly, moving in whatever direction you feel drawn. Maybe you’re beckoned by a sound or sight. Maybe the sun or a shadow calls to you. Wherever you begin, remember to stay open to anything that might spark your imagination and pull you in a completely different direction.
As you walk, interact with your surroundings. Perhaps you notice and step on a pile of leaves, listening to the way they snap underfoot. Maybe you spot a tree, a rock, or an animal that you want to talk or listen to. Open yourself up to messages from the natural world, observe a bee pollinating a flower, a squirrel darting across a tree, notice what nature is doing and respectfully immerse yourself in it. You may even shapeshift, mimicking a plant, a bug, or an animal. Be playful, make sounds, feel your feelings, get still and let yourself be surprised.
Remember that you are not only being impacted by what you are seeing and how you’re interacting, but you’re also impacting everything you’re interacting with. The squirrel, the flowers, and even the rock will be forever changed by your attention. The pile of leaves you stepped on has a new shape, the rock a new home. The plant that you spoke kind words or listened to is fed by your attention. When considering this, it may be helpful to remember these words by David Abram, “The friendship between my hand and this stone enacts an ancient and irrefutable eros, the kindredness of matter with itself.”
This feedback loop between you and the World around you is what we call erotic embodiment and it is foundational to your experience of belonging and to erotic wellness. And this present moment observation and interaction is available at any time. All that’s required is your noticing and your willingness to participate.
As you move, express gratitude to each being you interact with, even seemingly inanimate objects. Keep the practice simple, allow yourself to be moved, and when you are finished, take at least 5 conscious breaths, remembering the importance of savoring the experience to further embed your neurology with this sense of belonging.
